Overview+of+Writing+Skills

**NOTE: This page needs updating!**

Writing skills: • expressing thoughts, feelings, information, points of view, arguments • developing technical skills in writing including spelling and grammar • developing awareness of register and purpose • developing a sense of personal voice • developing skills in structure and presentation of writing • extending vocabulary

developed through:

Expressive writing: • journals • diaries • logs • lists • drafts • personal letters

Poetic writing: • poems • scripts • re-telling • narrative prose • song lyrics • advertisements • descriptive prose • personal letters • reflective prose

Transactional writing: • recounts • reports on research • essays for various purposes • summaries • reviews • formal letters of various types • instructions • explanations • expositions/arguments

Writing is a central part of the English programme and should be a regular part of English lessons. Students improve writing skills through writing and the more opportunity they are given to write, the more they will enjoy writing and improve what they write.

Writing Performance in New Zealand Schools: a report on the IEA study of written composition in New Zealand (1987), recognises: • the importance of planning, pre-writing and editing for writing development • the need to encourage the writing of a range of varieties or registers and an awareness of how they are structured and organised. In particular the need to introduce students to the form and style of more formal registers • the need for assessment strategies to assist teachers and students

This involves conveying to students the criteria and assessment schedule upon which writing will be assessed before the writing task begins and not deviating from those criteria when assessment/evaluation takes place.

The writing classroom: Teachers should establish classroom conditions that enable students to become independent writers. These include: • student selection of topics or topics within teacher selected topics • using checklists of criteria for writer and teacher before commencement to aid self, peer and teacher assessment (assessment schedules) • knowing where to seek help during all stages of writing (teacher, peer, professional writers, specified audience etc) • the development of real outcomes, purposes and audiences for their writing - attempting publication for a real audience as often as possible • the modelling of the composing process by the teacher • providing regular feedback (teachers and peers etc.) • encouraging students to experiment with a variety of writing forms and styles

Technical accuracy and the ability to adapt style to varying audiences empowers our students.

Technical accuracy should always be encouraged in students' writing but balanced with creativity, an awareness of audience, ideas and the desire to write.

